'Small is beautiful' fits very well for Tata Nano

A dream nurtured by common man or middle class (aam admi) fulfilled by Mr Ratan Tata is nothing but the cheapest car of India ‘NANO’.Six years after promising Indians a car that meets both their aspirations and budgets, Tata group chairman Mr. Ratan Tata on 23 March 2009 dedicated the little Nano to the country. When Tata Motors had first presented the concept of a Rs 1 Lakh((roughly $2,500) car, many scoffed that it was unachievable. Yet it has been done. The dream car is finally unleashed to roam free on Indian roads. Advertised as "the world’s cheapest car", the Nano is a no-frills automobile designed by Tata to be affordable to millions who commute on 2-wheelers carrying a family of 4-6!!

Its journey from Singur to Gujarat was ever be remembered by the people. Even after much protests in West Bengal, the car project is finally completed and was ready to hit the Indian roads.The project would had started its production of Nano cars from its Singur plant. But due to the protest the Nano project was moved from Singur, West Bengal to Gujarat.

The car is the culmination of about five years of research and input from designers across the world. But it is definitely a step ahead in innovation, right from using aerospace adhesives instead of welding, a clean and efficient fuel-burning technology to the concept, distribution strategy and marketing, and has succeeded in catching the attention of the world. Nano is a two-cylinder driven car with an Engine capacity of 625 CC and a power of 33 BHP. The little wonder can travel up to 20 to 25 km per liter of petrol. The maximum speed it can cruise is 90 Km. Small it may look albeit; it has not compromised on road safety. Nano has passed the necessary rigors of testing such as the 'Full Frontal Crash', a test that determines the impact bearing strength of a car. It has complied with Euro-4 emission norms for environmental qualification tests, which establishes that the car has undergone conventional checks required to ensure a smooth and safe plying on the roads.

India is densely-populated, and the current road conditions, narrow lanes, and lack of traffic control, and the dearth of parking structures may be on a rise if the streets get flooded with these cars, now the challenge rests with the government to widen the roads and provide proper infrastructure facilities for an efficient and safe plying of cars in general. This issue comes to the fore, since the fleet of cars will suddenly increase on roads due to advent of cheaper cars. On the other hand, necessity is the mother of invention, so this might give rise to more infrastructure opportunities and new businesses! It will surely be a safer bet for those families of 6 who risk their lives traveling long distances on a motor-bike!!